USS Insurgence: Book 1 - Baptism of Fire
by mandowriter
Summary: Fan Fiction with an entirely original crew based in the Star Trek universe (Next Gen and DS9) in the run up to the Dominion war, when relations between the Federation and its allies begin to break down. Set on board the Miranda class frigate USS Insurgence, the crew are tasked with monitoring activity beyond the Neutral Zone, but are in danger of violating the treaty with Romulus.
1. Chapter 1

Part 1

_NCC-19846 USS Insurgence_

_Sector 045_

_On station – The Neutral Zone_

_'Captain's log. Star date 46676.4_

_We have just completed another scan of the Neutral zone and the readings are increasingly erratic and puzzling. The Romulans seem to have increased their patrols on the far side of the neutral zone, every hour another signal is detected, but it disappears a few minutes later as it passes out of range. We reported this back to Starfleet command, - again - and they have ordered us to maintain a communications black out for the next few hours, and power down all non-essential systems. If they are scanning for anything on our side, we should appear as nothing more than a blip. But just to be absolutely certain, I've ordered Ensign Eraiel to place us in the shadow of one of the larger asteroids. This should hopefully help shield our signature and make the Romulans believe we have moved on. _

_A few radiation anomalies within the Neutral Zone have piqued the interest of Lieutenant Hitchens, my science officer. After a bit of deliberation, we decided to launch a class 1 probe into the Neutral Zone with passive sensors only. It was programmed to return within five hours. We won't be able to verify the scans until we recover the probe, but hopefully it will provide us with some interesting readings to study on the trip home._

_On a personal note, the last few weeks have begun to drag, and though moral remains high, I'm sure the crew will be thankful for the week's shore leave that will be waiting for us when we return to star base twenty five. I'll admit I am looking forward to it myself._

* * *

><p>The recording ended, the data saved, and the screen on the monitor blinked off, the star fleet insignia appearing on the black background. Captain Rex Colbert, commanding officer of the Miranda Class Frigate USS Insurgence, stood in front of the view port of his ready room and looked out at the twinkling stars beyond, his right arm outstretched and leaning against the window frame. The lights were dimmed in the captain's private office, a cold cup of coffee rested beside the monitor, and data pads with the days hourly reports were scattered across the desk.<p>

His brow creased as he felt a cold sensation spreading through his body. For seven weeks they had been patrolling the borders of the Neutral Zone. Day after day, and hour after hour, the sensor screens had shown nothing except the regular patrols that passed through the system, small scout ships buzzing the edges of the no-fly zone. Occasionally, sensors would pick up small anomalies crossing the neutral zone, insignificant amounts of radiation or unknown metallic signals. Most were explained with visual displays: bits of debris floating from the abandoned hulks left floating in the asteroid belt, or even stray asteroids themselves, knocked out of place by the larger, more volatile boulders.

But Rex knew that there was something else happening. Across the vast empty void, beyond the no-fly zone, he could almost feel the Romulans staring back at him, watching and waiting for the perfect opportunity to strike.

The uneasy peace had lasted for years, and many in star fleet had even come to regard the Romulans as nothing more than an annoyance, a troublesome race that needed constant attention to prevent them from causing mischief. But Rex knew otherwise. He had seen the brutality of the Romulans first hand. The memories would always be with him, and there was nothing in the galaxy that would ever make him forgive them for what they had done to him.

Without even realising he had done it, he felt his right hand closing around his left forearm, and as he tightened his grip, he could feel the raised, jagged scars that dug deep into his skin. The pain of them flooded his mind with memories, as fresh today as they had all those years ago. His green eyes flared with anger and hatred. He glared out through the view port and found himself staring at his own reflection, unable to recognise the brown haired stranger who looked back at him. The jaw was stained with a few days growth of hair, and the dark eyes were hidden behind a heavily furrowed brow. His hand grew tighter and tighter, and he could feel his heart rate begin to race as the anger bubbled up inside him, dragging him under waves of pain that seemed to suffocate him. It was almost too much...

A soft chirp burst from the speakers hidden in the ceiling of the ready room as the computer warned him to a presence outside the door. He gasped heavily for breath, as though the sound had awakened him from a nightmare, dragging out of the drowning feeling of his own pain. His eyes widened and he stared out at his own reflection again. He recognised it now. Looking away, he pinched the bridge of his nose and clamped his eyes tight shut, forcing the memories to the back of his mind. Taking deep breaths, he slowed his heart and steadied his breathing. Running his fingers through his hair, he brushed away the cold sweat that had beaded across his brow and exhaled slowly.

The chimes rang again, and with a final glance out of the view port, he sighed heavily and turned away from the starscape beyond. Tugging the hem of his jacket to straighten out the creases, he walked towards the desk and stood behind it.

'Come,' he said clearly, giving the signal for the computer to open the doors to his office.

With the familiar swish sound he had become accustomed to – almost like the sound of someone pulling a sheet of paper out of an envelope – the door slid aside into the recessed wall, revealing a tall, blonde haired woman beyond.

'What can I do for you, commander?' he asked casually, sitting down in his chair and burying everything beneath the controlled front he had spent years mastering. To everyone, he was the calm, level headed commander of the ship. They would never know about the turmoil that existed beneath.

The young woman who stood in front of him had been his first officer for over six months, and had come with a list of recommendations longer than his arm. She was tall, slim, and stood with a back straighter than the bulkheads around him. Her piercing blue eyes looked impatiently back at him, her short, blonde hair hanging neatly around her face, with only the tips of her pointed ears breaking the golden sheen. It was the only hint to her unusual parentage, that and her logical, cold demeanour. She was, after all, half Vulcan.

Excelling at the academy and at every posting she had ever received, Commander Jean Akerman was an exemplary officer. Though she could have done with a bit more people skills.

'I have a request from engineering for you, sir,' she said crisply, her arm appearing from behind her back, a data pad held firmly in her hand.

'What does the Chief want now?' Rex said with a soft smile on his face.

'Lieutenant Prior has requested your permission to begin a level five diagnostic of the antimatter injector assembly, now that the warp engines are powered down for a few hours. Seems they are running a bit hot since the last service.' She leaned forwards and handed him the data pad. He gave it a quick look and Akerman stood silently waiting for his response.

It was true, the antimatter injectors were running at a ridiculously high rate since they had last been to space dock. The ship was older than most, the Miranda class a relic from the times of the great captain Kirk. And Rex was certain that the antimatter system had not been upgraded for at least five years.

'Very well,' Rex said finally. 'Probably a good idea. Help keep the crew distracted a while, I expect.' He scrawled his consent across the screen of the data pad and handed it back to his first officer, Jean taking it with a distinct unimpressed look on her face. Rex reclined back in his seat and watched as she was about to turn and leave. 'You do not agree with the Chief, Commander?'

'Permission to speak freely, sir?' she said sharply. He was used to that question.

'Of course,' he said with a nod.

'Taking the antimatter injectors offline anywhere other than space dock is a dangerous decision, more so here, so close to the Neutral Zone,' she said quickly. 'Should we come under attack, we shall be vastly underpowered and unable to jump to warp.'

'Very true, commander,' Rex said gently. 'However, if we do not take advantage of this opportunity to accurately assess the problem, we could run the risk of overheating the entire system and if that was to blow during warp, we would be in a lot more trouble.'

Akerman glared back at him, obviously wanting to argue, but her respect for command preventing her from doing so. He sighed.

'However, I shall note your concerns in the ship's log.'

'Thank you, sir.'

'Inform the crew, and feel free to monitor the diagnostic yourself if it will ease your mind. Dismissed, commander,' Rex said with a smile. Akerman stood to attention before turning and leaving the ready room, the door silently opening and closing again behind her.

As the door sealed, and he was left alone with his thoughts once more, his brow, which had been raised in a happy smile fell once more, creasing at the centre and a haunted look sweeping over his eyes. He looked back over his shoulder out through the view port once more, and he could feel the familiar sensation of being watched from beyond the void. He knew that the memories would begin to surface once more, and the battle between his past and the present would begin anew. Sighing, he braced himself for the struggle, and began to work through the hourly reports that still cluttered his desk.

* * *

><p>'The Captain has ordered a level five diagnostic of the antimatter injection system. I am on my way down to engineering to oversee the procedure. Mister G'rahm, you have the bridge,' Commander Akerman said as she stepped out from the Captain's ready room and strided swiftly across the bridge towards the turbo lift. She said it all in one rapid breath, but with enough growl in her voice for the whole bridge to detect her irritation with the idea.<p>

'Aye, sir,' Trace G'rahm said quickly, barely getting his reply out before she stepped into the turbo lift and vanished behind the closing doors. He listened to the turbo lift racing away, the two small antennae on top of his head swivelling towards the closed doors. It soon fell silent, and he locked his post at the tactical station and crossed the bridge towards the chair that sat on a raised platform at the centre. Turning the chair towards him, he lowered himself into the seat and then restored it to its neutral position, facing the main viewer.

Lieutenant Commander Trace G'rahm sat watching the Neutral Zone stretched out in front of the ship, an invisible line only a few hundred kilometres ahead of them marking the boundary of the no-fly zone between the Federation and the Romulan Empire. At the top of the view screen he could see the outcropping of stone that leaned out over the ship, giving them cover and hiding them from any possible sensor sweeps. It didn't feel natural to be hiding, but he could see the strategic advantages of their current deception.

Andorians were naturally aggressive, Trace would be the first to admit to that. But they were also profoundly paranoid about others motives, and this made them especially adept to security posts, and at anticipating the movements of enemies and sources of possible attack. Trace activated the small screen recessed into the arm of the captain's chair and began flicking through the last few scans of the Neutral Zone. With only passive scans at his disposal, there was not much that the ship could detect. But it was enough to mark out anything that might be big enough to pose a threat.

For now, there was nothing.

The lights were dimmed all across the ship, and the bridge was bathed in a dull orange light. With the communications black out and non-essential systems powered down, it seemed only right that most of the lights should be dimmed as well. After all, if they were trying to stay hidden, what was the point hiding from the sensors if all someone had to do was look out of a view port and see all their lights shining from inside an asteroid cave.

Hiding in the cave did, however, produce its own set of problems. By parking themselves inside this mass of rock, they were blinding themselves to anything that might come from behind them. The rock was too thick for the passive sensors to penetrate, and there was only so far around they could make them reach.

Trace never liked having a blindspot. It showed up on the sensor screens as a grey segment of nothingness. It flickered back at him, taunting him, hiding what he could not see. He knew that this side of the Neutral Zone was part of the Federation, and that in theory there was nothing behind them that should attack them. The enemy was all on the other side of the Neutral Zone, directly in front of them.

But that little bit of logic was no comfort to him, as this region of space was known for large quantities of pirate traffic and smugglers. And in the past few weeks a unsettling number of unknown radiation sources had been detected floating in the middle of the no-fly zone. Some people found that interesting, but to an Andorian, it just stank of danger.

Tapping the screen once more, he accessed another file, and a counter appeared on the small monitor beside him. It was counting down in hours, minutes and seconds. And it currently read:

4 hours 6 minutes 15 seconds.

That was how long they had until the class one probe returned to their side of the neutral zone and they would be able to pull it back in using the tractor beams. It had been a risky idea when it had been suggested. After all, nothing was supposed to enter the Neutral Zone from either side, and any violation of this rule would be classed as an act of aggression towards the other. But as Trace had pointed out during the meeting, the rewards far outweighed the risks, and it was easy enough to claim that no actual violation had occurred as no "ship" had crossed the line.

It was a grey area, legally, but Trace thought the risk was minimal.

Closing down the screen, he continued with his checks around the ship, bringing up external and internal sensors one after the other. Everything was quiet.

A soft chirp echoed from the ceiling, and a young, confident voice chimed in almost immediately.

'Engineering to bridge,' the voice said. Trace smiled a knowing grin. It was the voice of the chief engineer, one of the few humans he had ever met who had the ability to make even an Andorian smile. Trace reached up to his chest and tapped the communicator on his chest, the channel opening with an electronic glitch.

'Go ahead, Chief,' he said clearly.

'We are ready to power down the antimatter injectors and begin our diagnostic,' the chief said happily. 'You'll probably experience a moments sensor blackout as the back-up power takes over the main systems. Without the injectors the core will be mostly deactivated.'

'Thank you, Chief,' Trace replied, knowing that the first officer was probably standing right behind the chief, watching his every move over his shoulder. And the best bit was that the chief was probably loving every minute of it.

He liked nothing more than to get under her skin. Trace turned to look up at the communications officer.

'Inform the crew,' he said simply. The communications officer nodded and tapped at the controls, opening a ship wide channel.

'Attention all hands, this is the bridge. Commencing level five diagnostic on the antimatter injectors. Prepare for full power down. Shut down all non-essential systems. All emergency systems will now transfer to back up power.' Trace smiled and tapped the communicator on his chest once more.

'Bridge to Engineering, Proceed when ready.'

'Pulling the injectors... Now.'

The lights around the bridge dimmed and the screens flickered for a moment as they switched to the back up power system. Trace looked down at the monitor beside him and his brow furrowed in confusion. In the top left of the screen, where moments before there had been nothing, a small dot had appeared. The screen continued to flicker as the back up power adjusted and settled, each time, the dot changed position.

When the systems finally evened out, the screen flickered once more and the contact vanished completely, the screen once again showing the vast sweeping expanse of nothing. But he had seen it, and as he looked up from the monitor to the main viewer, he had a tightening feeling in his stomach that something was coming.


	2. Chapter 2

**Part 2**

_NCC-19846 USS Insurgence_

_Sector 045_

_On station – The Neutral Zone_

_'Captain's log. Star date 46676.6_

_We are now three hours into our covert surveillance and there is still another hour and twenty minutes until the class one probe is scheduled to return to our side of the Neutral Zone. I doubt that the readings will show anything out of the ordinary, but it's better to be safe than sorry. Especially when dealing with the Romulans..._

_I have allowed Lieutenant Prior to conduct a level five diagnostic of the antimatter injector assembly. Though it means we shall be unable to restart the warp drives until they have been installed - a worry that was clearly stated by Commander Akerman - I see it as a worth-while precaution as they have been giving us a bit of problems over the last few months. When we dock at star base twenty five, I'm going to request a full overhaul of the system, or at least a replacement._

_Meanwhile, I have the crew on routine duties. It should help the time pass a little faster._

...

Power thrummed through the injector assembly as it sat in the centre of a work bench in one of the side rooms of the engineering section, cables and wires plugged into it from all sides, tricorders and data pads glowing as they tracked every inch of it, and the screens around it flickering with numbers and codes. The pitch rose and fell as it surged through the wiring and into the metallic regulator, simulating the stresses it would go through at high warp.

It began to shudder, and one of the tricorders began to beep nervously.

'The right side power coupling is beginning to degrade,' an engineer said calmly, reading the data off the screen in front of him, looking up from the device to the face of the chief engineer who stood opposite him.

Lieutenant Arthur 'RT' Prior, chief engineer, barely took his eyes off the injector as his fingers deftly floated across the controls of the monitor in front of him.

'Decreasing flow to the left side coupling to compensate,' he said patiently, sliding the sensitive controls down but hearing the hum continue to grow.

More power was surging through it, seemingly unaffected by his alterations. His brow crease and he chewed on the inside of his cheek as he grunted disapprovingly. It was not doing what it was supposed to.

He tapped a few more controls, accessing the power regulators and trying to syphon off the power through a secondary valve system that was built into the device. Power drained out through the release valve, but the injector just seemed to draw even more power into itself.

'No effect,' the young engineer opposite him stated, looking up with a mildly fearful look in his eyes. Prior did not even notice the look, his eyes were still locked on the injector as it lay quivering on the workbench.

'Report, Lieutenant,' a sharp voice barked from the doorway into the main engineering section. Prior huffed out a grunt of irritation as he continued to glare down at the devise and his fingers moved rapidly across the controls. He knew who's voice it was, but he didn't have time to play her games at that moment, even if she was the first officer.

'Kinda busy right now, sir,' he hissed through gritted teeth, somehow able to make the word "sir" sound like an insult. Out of the corner of his eye he could see her tense up at being spoken to in such a way. But he had more important things to worry about at that moment.

'Right side power coupling is losing cohesion,' the engineer continued to report, watching the screen in front of him slowly turning red with warning lights.

Prior rushed around the table, nudging past the first officer a bit more forcibly than he probably intended to, and feeling the glare from her eyes burning into the back of his head as he stopped beside the other engineer, accessing the terminal in front of him and entering commands as fast as he could.

'I just need a few more seconds,' he hissed, ignoring everyone around him now.

'I asked for your report, Lieutenant,' Akerman growled.

The whining of the power surging through the device grew deafeningly loud now, and the vibrating was so violent that the injector was juddering across the surface of the workstation.

'Not now!' Prior barked back.

Akerman seemed about to yell back, but her eyes suddenly seemed to notice the device and the painful whirring sound emanating from the workbench.

'Power levels at critical,' the young engineer said hopelessly.

'Nearly got it,' Prior wispered.

'Too late.'

'Down...'

The device ruptured, a blinding ball of light engulfing the table, and sharp, jagged shards flew in all directions. Akerman threw herself onto the floor, covering her head with her arms, waiting for the inevitable shower of hot metal and electronic sparks. But it never came.

'Breach,' the soft computer voice said casually. 'Simulation ends.'

'Damn it,' Prior huffed angrily, slapping his palms down hard on the workstation. 'I nearly had it. Okay, computer. Set up for another run. Same parameters. And this time, Lomas, I want you to...' as he turned to look at the young engineer who had been stood beside him, he noticed that the first officer was still lying on the deck, her eyes looking up at him widely as though she was surprised to see him still alive. Realisation began to dawn upon her and her comical expression changed from confusion, to irritation, and then to all out anger at being humiliated in such a way.

Prior wished that he had been able to capture that look on her face in a hologram that he could keep forever. It took all his effort not to let himself grin.

She scrambled to her feet and brushed herself down as fast as she could, either hoping or pretending that no one else had seen that. Striding purposefully over towards him, she stopped only inches away from him and glared down into his eyes. They were almost the same height, and as she struggled to contain her anger, her nostril flared.

'Can I have a word with you,' he growled, her jaw clenched so tight that Prior was certain that she would shatter her teeth. 'In private,,' she added, her eyes flicking viciously towards Lomas.

'Lomas, give us the room,' Prior said tactfully, his voice gentle and calm. He never broke eye contact with Akerman, but he watched as the young engineer skirted the edge of the room and left through the open doorway. The doors closed behind him, Lomas obviously certain that the rest of the crew did not need to hear what was about to be said.

Prior continued to glare up into Akerman's eyes, waiting a painful few seconds too long, watching her seethe before a wide grin crossed his face and he shook his head.

'You have to admit, that was funny,' he whispered. Her eyes flared a fraction of a second before she reached out and grabbed him by the collar. She dragged him so close that their noses were on the verge of touching.

'Don't you EVER do that to me again,' she growled.

'Okay,' Prior said, a shocked expression crossing his face. She clenched her fists tighter.

'Okay, what?'

'Okay, sir.'

'That's better,' she said softly, the growl in her voice suddenly absent. She pulled him even closer and forcibly pressed her lips against his. Prior knew it had been coming, and he always loved winding her up. It seemed to fire her passion. Her grip on his collar relaxed and her kiss became more tender as her arms slipped around the back of his neck, his slipped around her waist, pulling her closer against his body.

They savoured the moment together. It was becoming more and more difficult to hide their relationship from the rest of the crew. There was only so much insubordination he could fake before people would start to wonder why he had not been transferred, or even court marshalled.

He felt the softness of her lips against his, the gentle touch of her hands against the nape of his neck. The almost silent sigh she would make as their breaths intertwined, it always melted his heart. From that very first moment he had seen her all those years ago, he knew he had fallen in love, and on that fateful day when she had transferred to the "Insurgence" and he had seen her on the bridge, he knew it had been fate.

Slowly, she pulled away, letting her hands caress his chest one last time before she took a step away and straightened out her uniform. He looked back at her and smiled.

'Don't do that,' she said, her cheeks flushing. It always surprised him to see her acting shy.

'What?' he said playfully.

'That smile,' she retorted with reddening cheeks. 'You know what it does to me.'

'I'm sorry,' he replied, not even meaning it. It was that smile that had made her fall for him. He would wear it for her every day until he was buried in the ground if it made her happy and kept her by his side.

'Anyway,' she said finally, brushing the last creases out of her uniform and her voice reverting to its angry growl. 'I should get back to the bridge. Make sure you get that diagnostic done as soon as you can.'

'Will do,' Prior said with a sad smile. Akerman turned and was almost at the door when he called out to her. 'Jean?'

'Yes?'

'I love you.' She turned to look at him and smiled before pressing the controls and stepping out through the door.

Prior sighed.

'One day,' he whispered to himself. 'One day, she'll say it back to me.'

...

The turbo lift doors opened onto the bridge, the silent, darkened room made a little more inviting by the dull orange glow of the lights. As she stepped out onto the bridge, Akerman cast a quick eye across all of the other monitors that were scattered around the rear walls, taking in all the status displays. Slowly, she walked around the back of the bridge.

The helm officer – an Orion female - turned to look back at her over her shoulder, the soft, wavy brown hair swaying as she turned. Akerman gave her a nod of acknowledgement, noting that she had recognised a superior on the bridge, and giving her a silent signal to return to her duties. The helm officer smiled a tight-lipped smile, and returned her attention to the console in front of her.

Lieutenant Commander Trace G'rahm stood up, rising from the captains chair, and came to attention, his hands clasped behind his back. She noted this, and could feel him watching her as she passed the last few monitors, but she did not hurry. She finished taking in the data on the screens, happy that everything was within normal tolerances, and then turned and walked towards the command seat at the centre of the bridge.

'I have the bridge, Mr G'rahm,' she said crisply. The Andorian saluted in return and stepped away from the chair.

'Yes, sir,' he said smartly. She respected him, he was a good and competent officer, and he always followed protocol. That was very important to her. She had always been a stickler for the rules, never even considering breaking them, even when she was a child. But then growing up as the daughter of a Starfleet security officer was bound to leave its mark.

She had never been able to understand people who could ignore regulations with such ease, to simply cast them aside as though they were something trivial that couldn't possibly relate to them. Regulations were there for a reason. They were there to maintain order, and to protect the crews of the ships of Starfleet.

Nodding her head in acknowledgement, she stepped in front of the seat and sat down, feeling in her bones that one day she was destined to occupy this spot on a more permanent basis, not just as first officer. It wasn't that she didn't think Captain Colbert was a bad commanding officer, far from it. She had watched him and studied him, and she had seen how confident and how sure of himself that he was while running the ship, maintaining an air of distance from the crew that was only right for a person in his position, but also managing to feel like he was approachable by many of them in times of need.

She struggled with that last quality. She had never been a people person. As she settled into the seat, the room around her seemed to grow a little more with each passing thought, as though reminding her that though the chair fitted her, she still had a long way to go before she was ready.

Putting the thoughts aside, she turned to the small monitor on the arm of the seat and entered her access code. Without looking up at him, she began speaking to Lieutenant Commander G'rahm.

'Anything to report, Mister G'rahm?' she asked, almost conversationally.

'Nothing of note, sir,' he replied, still maintaining his solid, upright posture. 'There has been no change in the routine of the Romulan patrols on the far side of the Neutral Zone. Lieutenant Hitchens informs me that there has been no alterations to the radiological anomalies we have been tracking, though we are still unable to ascertain their origins, and the probe will not be returning for another one hour and twenty three minutes until it it programmed to return. Once we have the data, we shall have a better idea of what we are dealing with.

'Security on board ship remains on standby, as per silent running regulations. I have the weapons systems on standby for rapid activation, and the sensor station is sweeping the area directly port and starboard for any incoming ships.' Akerman paused half way through reading one of the hourly reports from the medical team about a sprained wrist and turned to look up at the blue skinned security officer.

'Expecting trouble?' she asked, raising an eyebrow. He gave her a dry smile.

'Not expecting,' he said simply. 'Just cautious. The asteroid forms a blind spot directly aft, and if anything does try to sneak up on us, I'd like to be as prepared as we possibly can.' Akerman absorbed the information for a moment before she returned his smile.

'Hope for the best...,' she began.

'...Prepare for the worst,' he finished with a knowing grin.

'Very good, Lieutenant Commander,' she said happily. He was about to turn and walk away when he seemed to hesitate for a moment. Akerman saw this. 'Is there something else, Mister G'rham?' He paused, seemingly uncertain whether to speak or not. His lips tightened and his brow creased into a frown as he turned back to face her.

'When the systems switched to back up power, the sensor screen flickered and I'm certain I saw other contacts appear,' he said quietly. 'When the switch over was completed, the readings had returned to normal and the computer showed no record of there ever having been any contacts there.' Akerman lowered her head to look at the floor, resting her chin on her fist as her elbow leaned on the arm of the seat. She chewed her bottom lip as she thought about what he had just said.

At the academy, she had studied sensor equipment as part of her dissertation, and knew they were prone to sensor ghosts when an unstable power source was connected. But she also knew that they could also pick up something that was otherwise hidden when power surged through them at a higher rate than normal, and that could happen when they were switching from one power source to the other. Weighing up the evidence, she came to a compromise.

'Given the circumstances, it is highly likely they were nothing more than sensor ghosts. But as you said, "_prepare for the worst_". Isolate the area the signals were detected and dedicate one of the monitors to its constant surveillance.'

'Aye, sir,' he said confidently. Bowing his head in appreciation, he walked around the rear of the captains seat, and resumed monitoring his own station, programming one of the monitors to do a constant sweep of the area he had seen the signals.

Akerman returned her attention to the hourly reports that were slowly scrolling across the small screen mounted on the arms of the chair. In the darkened bridge, it was easy to lose herself in her work, and as she read through each report, the minutes tapered away around her.


	3. Chapter 3

**Part 3**

_NCC-19846 USS Insurgence_

_Sector 045_

_On station – The Neutral Zone_

_'Captain's log. Star date 46676.8_

_With only a few more minutes until the scheduled return of the probe from within the Neutral Zone, I have requested that my science officer, Lieutenant Hitchens, report to the bridge to oversea its recovery. Hopefully the information it has gathered should prove interesting._

_Lieutenant Prior has informed me that the diagnostic on the antimatter injectors is nearly complete, and we should be able to reinitialise the warp engines within the next hour. I will feel a lot more comfortable when we are back to full power. Floating around this close to the Neutral Zone with no warp capabilities is not something I particularly enjoy._

_Yesterday was my son's fifth birthday, but the communications black out that has been forced upon us has prevented me from sending a message to him. This is the first time I have been away for his birthday. I knew Starfleet would eventually take me away for his birthday, I just never thought it would be this soon..._

...

Smoke billowed out from the hatch in the floor, the horrible stench of ozone and burned conduits mixing with the unmistakable smell of charred skin. A choked cry of pain had deteriorated into a violent coughing fit, and engineers scrambled towards the opening that lead beneath the deck.

Prior was the first there, shielding his mouth and nose with the crook of his elbow, the grey smoke making his eyes water. Glaring down through the acrid smoke he scrunched up his eyes to try and see better. When the smoke did not clear, he grabbed hold of an extinguisher that was mounted on the wall beside him and he lowered himself through the hatch.

The smoke was thick and stung his eyes, and he struggled to breath as his feet touched the bottom of the ladder. Ducking down beneath the smoke, his eyes streaming with tears and his throat dry from the stench, he called out.

'Welch,' he yelled into the Jeffries tube, spraying extinguisher fluid around him to douse the smoke. 'Welch, can you hear me?'

A low grunting noise echoed from a few meters away, the smoke making it impossible to see. Ducking even lower, he looked beneath the smoke and saw the writhing form of an engineer almost within reach. Scrambling forwards, he reached out blindly and felt his fingers brush against the uniform of the young officer. His grip closed tightly and he hauled him roughly towards him, the engineer crying out in pain. Dragging him closer, he saw the face of Welch, a young officer not long out of the academy. His features were contorted in pain, and he held his right hand buried under his left arm. The material was scorched and still smoking, burned, blackened flesh visible beneath.

'Chief,' another voice yelled from above him. Prior looked up and saw two of his engineering staff waiting at the top of the shaft.

'I've got him,' he yelled. Both engineers knelt down and stretched their arms down into the access hatch, Prior using all his strength to lift the injured crewman up into their waiting arms. He vanished up into the blinding light of the engineering section, and Prior climbed up himself.

As he reached the top, another arm reached down and pulled him quickly out of the hatch.

'Seal it up,' he coughed painfully, staggering to the side and coming to rest against the bulkhead. His eyes were still blurry and his throat was dry. Looking across, he watched as Lomas closed the hatch and told the computer to seal ff that section, venting the smoke out through the environmental scrubbers. There was a soft hiss, and then the status display beside him showed that the area was clear.

Turning around, he saw Ensign Welch, the engineer who had been working down in the Jeffries tube propped up against the far side bulkhead, his face covered in black smears and his right arm badly burned. Taking a few deep breaths to cool his burning lungs, Prior stepped over towards him and knelt down.

'How you doing there, Welch?' he asked putting a reassuring hand on his shoulder.

'It hurts, chief,' he whispered.

'I don't doubt that,' Prior replied with a smile, squeezing his shoulder again. 'But at least you still got it on the end of your arm. Let me have a look at it.' Gingerly, Welch lifted his left arm and revealed the burned flesh that was covering his right hand. It was a mess. Blackened and bloodied, Prior had seen that kind of damage before. 'Plasma burns. Nasty.'

'Sorry, chief,' Welch said through gritted teeth. 'Think I might have touched a live relay while I was inspecting the injector cradle...'

'Hey, don't worry about it,' Prior said kindly, still wearing the warm smile on his face. 'We can sort that. In the meantime I need to get you to the doctor.' Turning around, he nodded towards the two engineer who had dragged Welch from the open hatch and beckoned them over. 'Take him to the medical bay and see that his hand is treated.'

'Yes, sir,' the more senior of the two replied, kneeling down and helping Welch to stand. Prior watched them leave, resting his arm against the bulkhead to stabilise himself. The smoke still lingered in his chest.

As he turned back to the engineering bay, he found Lomas standing a few meters away, watching him.

'What's on your mind, Lomas?' he asked, pushing away from the wall and walking towards him, brushing the acrid tears from his eyes with the sleeve of his uniform.

'If you don't mind me saying, you should really go to the medical bay yourself, sir,' Lomas said kindly. Prior smiled.

'I'm okay,' he coughed lightly. 'Besides, we now have to realign the power conduits if we are going to get the injectors back in within the hour. And you've just volunteered to help me,' he added with a grin.

Lomas stopped in his tracks for a second before sighing heavily.

'Come on. Let's get to work.' Scooping up a few of the tools they would need, Prior returned to the hatch and opened it up, another gentle hiss escaping as the atmosphere returned to it. There was still the lingering stench of smoke – though it could have been on his uniform – but Prior didn't care. Lowering himself into the hole, he dropped beneath the deck into the Jeffries tube.

...

Rex turned in his seat as he heard the whooshing sound of the turbo lift approaching. It stopped suddenly, the doors opening with the same silent hiss he had grown accustomed to, and the aging form of Lieutenant Matthew Hitchens emerged, his head buried in a data pad. He was reading intently as he scratched the back of his head. His once brown hair was streaked through with whisps of grey, and the few wrinkles around the edges of his eyes belied the youthful glow within them. He may have been beginning to show the signs of a man in his late fifties, but he had the mind and spirit of a man easily half that age.

He looked up suddenly, almost as if noticing for the first time that he was actually on the bridge, and as he noticed that Rex was watching him, he gave him his trademark wink. Rex was his superior officer, and as such could order him to do pretty much anything. But being nearly twenty years his junior, there was also a hint that the old man could get away with a few more things than the younger officers could.

After all, they often sat together in the mess hall in the dead of night, sharing a drink or two and telling tales of their time at the academy. Matthew had been a professor of interstellar phenomenon before joining up with Starfleet. He kept saying how he had taught about them for so long that it seemed only right that he should actually get to see them up close for once. Rex remembered the story of how he had tendered his resignation to the university. Stone drunk, and with a toy rocket in his hand.

It had been a while since their last drink, Rex thought sadly. He made a mental note to try and catch up with his old friend.

'What you got for me, doc?' Rex said with a crooked smile.

'A whole lot of nothing, sir,' Matthew replied.

'Thank you for narrowing it down for me,' Rex said with a laugh. Matthew moved around the bridge towards the science station and Rex turned his seat back towards the main viewer, catching a sideways glance from Akerman as she stood leaning over the helm officers chair. There was look of disapproval in her eyes for a moment before she turned away. He knew that she was a stickler for the rules, and such an obvious display of friendship between ranks was bound to irritate her. Rex did not see any harm in being friends with those beneath you. But he knew that there were times when he had to be a superior officer, and not a friend.

Hopefully she would learn that one day, before she burns all the bridges that she would need to cross.

'Time to probe return?' Rex asked crisply, turning his head slightly towards the tactical station, catching a glimpse of Trace's blue-skinned form as he leaned over the console behind the captain's chair.

'Seven minutes until it is scheduled to return, sir,' Trace replied. 'And twenty minutes for it to travel back to within tractor beam range.'

'Thank you, mister G'rham,' Rex said with a nod. Turning in his chair to face the back of the bridge, he looked up at Matthew as he sat beside the science station, the data pad resting on the side and the sensor screens lit up in front of him. 'Set tractor beam emitters to half power, and prepare for manual targeting. We are running dark for a reason and I'd rather we didn't give away our position by making a nice big energy beacon on someone's sensor grid.'

'Aye, sir,' Matthew replied, 'low and slow.'

Rex had to suppress a grin as he turned back towards the main viewer, shaking his head. Tapping the comlink on his chest, he opened another channel.

'Bridge to engineering,' he said casually, very aware of the tension that was filling the ship. They had been running dark for a few hours now, with only limited power due to the antimatter injector diagnostic, so he was not surprised that the crew were beginning to tire of the gloom. By smiling and forcing as much calmness into his voice, he hoped he could steady their nerves.

Within moments, the voice of his chief engineer replied.

'Go ahead, bridge,' he said with a grunt.

'Bad timing, chief?' Rex asked, raising an eyebrow as his first officer turned to look back at him. She seemed to hear the struggle in his voice too.

'No, sir,' Prior replied with a forced laugh. 'Had a minor incident with a cross-connected relay. Having to realigning the power conduits around the injector housing ready for it to be reinstalled. But of a squeeze down here is all.'

'Was anyone hurt?' Rex asked with genuine concern. He hated any of his crew being injured.

'Ensign Welch had a few minor plasma burns to his hand. I've sent him to the medical bay.'

'Very well, Chief. Keep me posted. Just a heads up that we will be powering up the tractor beam emitters shortly, though only at a low power.'

'We are still on back up power,' Prior replied, a hint of concern in his voice. 'But as long as it doesn't go above twenty percent power, we should be okay.' Rex turned in his chair to look back up at Matthew who nodded in response. He adjusted the settings accordingly without having to be told. Rex smiled.

'Thanks, chief. That's all I wanted to know. Bridge out.' he tapped the comlink on his shirt once more and with a metallic chirp, the channel closed.

'Sir,' a voice called out from across the bridge. Turning to face it, Rex looked towards the helm officer, a beautiful, green-skinned Orion female. Akerman was still stood beside her, looking down at the controls, but the helm officer had turned to look over her shoulder towards him.

'Yes, ensign,' he said warmly.

'With only twenty percent power, the tractor beam will not be strong enough to draw in the probe.'

'Of course it will be,' Akerman cut across, scathingly. She seemed to glare down at the young girl as though she was insubordinate. 'It's only a class one probe. It's not like it's a shuttle pod.'

'I know, sir,' the Orion girl stammered quickly, a worried look crossing her face. 'But we have moved out of range from when we launched the probe.'

Rex could see that she was getting nervous with Akerman looking over her shoulder all the time, and decided to help. Standing up, he crossed the bridge towards the helm console. Coming to a stop behind her, he smiled warmly.

'Explain,' he said encouragingly. She tapped the screen in front of her and a display showing their previous position and current position appeared.

'We launched the probe from here, and programmed it to return to that spot. But we then moved the ship to the cover of the asteroid here. With only twenty percent power available for the tractor beam, we won't be able to draw it in without moving out of the cover of the asteroid.'

Rex looked down and saw that she was right. Looking up at Akerman, he raised an eyebrow in a silent question to see if she agreed. With a mild frown, she was forced to concur.

'Well done, Ensign,' Rex said, patting her on the shoulder. 'I guess we will have to go and retrieve our little probe. Lieutenant Hitchens, when you have a positive lock on the probe, would you kindly inform the ensign here of its location and instruct her to manoeuvre the ship as close as possible. One quarter impulse, manoeuvring thrusters only,' he added with a wink. She beamed back at him. She was an unusual specimen of her race, but she was eager to learn.

Turning away from the helm console, he tugged the hem of his uniform down, straightening out the creases and stood up to full height before moving back towards the captain's ready room.

'Commander,' he called out to Akerman, without turning towards her. 'You have the bridge.'

'Aye, sir,' she replied crisply.

He had barely taken two steps however when the sirens began wailing across the bridge. His eyes snapped up sharply towards the tactical officer, as did Akerman's, and he watched as G'rahm grabbed hold of the console and leaned over it, his eyes wide open as he glared down at the screen.

'Sir, two signals detected, approaching fast,' he growled.

'Identify,' Rex said crisply.

'Unable to get a clear reading, sir.'

'Where did they come from?' Rex barked.

'From behind the asteroid, sir,' G'rahm replied. 'Sensors have been unable to penetrate it. They have only just now come into sensor range. They will be passing us is five seconds.'

Rex turned quickly to look over his shoulder and as he did, two large shadows swept across from above the asteroid and dropped into view in front of the ship, still moving slowly away. His whole body tensed and he felt his teeth grind. He recognised the class of ship, the colouration and the markings.

They were Cardassians.


	4. Chapter 4

**Part 4**

_NCC-19846 USS Insurgence_

_Sector 045_

_On station – The Neutral Zone_

_'Captain's log. Star date 46676.85_

_We are trapped. Moments ago, two Cardassian Galor-class cruisers appeared over the top of the asteroid we have been using for cover, and have come to a stop fifteen thousand meters ahead of us. They have clearly not discovered our locations, as they have yet to open hailing frequencies. But with the probe imminently on its return journey from within the Neutral zone, I fear we shall not remain undetected for long._

_I have ordered the comms officer to attempt to get a signal to the nearest starbase or any nearby starfleet vessels, but that could compromise our location. Though I'm afraid that our detection is an unavoidable outcome. When the probe does arrive, we shall either have to allow the Cardassians to capture it and forfeit the data it collected, or risk facing them in an attempt to retrieve it ourselves._

...

'Report,' Akerman said in a hushed tone, stepping into view beside Trace, barely acknowledging him as she looked down at the sensor screen. The glare was almost blinding in the dimmed gloom of the bridge, the forward viewer still showing the two Cardassian cruisers sitting silently off their port bow.

The captain had stepped off the bridge moments earlier, leaving her in charge without giving a reason. Though having done many hours study on the tasks given to a ships commanding officer, she knew that he was preparing a final broadcast that would give Starfleet as full a picture of the situation as he could manage. It would then be loaded into a class five probe and left dormant in the bowels of the ship. Should they then be destroyed, it would be a data source that any other federation ship could retrieve and know the circumstances of the attack.

It was a grim thought that one day she might have to be in the same situation.

Her hands were clenched by her side, her knuckles white. It was the only outward display of fear she had ever let herself show, though she would never admit to it. Anyone who claimed they were not afraid when there was the threat of battle was either lying, or hiding it well. Everyone was afraid.

Turning sharply to her side, she caught Trace looking at her fist. He looked up as she turned and let his gaze return sharply to the console in front of him. She turned back to look down at the screen, watching the security officer tapping the controls to see if any of the long range scans had changed.

'No change, sir,' he said softly. It seemed to be without logic, but the whole level of the crew had dropped since the ships had appeared.

Despite the fact that sound could not travel through a vacuum, and they were not broadcasting any signals, having the Cardassians sitting only a few kilometres away had made everyone nervous, and their voices dropped.

'Weapons systems appear to be offline, and there is still no indication that they had detected out location. Though all it would take was for one of them to look out of a view port, and we'd be...'

'I know,' she said sharply, cutting him off. 'The thought had crossed my mind', she added as her eyes moved from the display in front of her to the main viewer. 'Let's just hope that they are otherwise preoccupied.'

'What are they even doing out this far?' Matthew asked from the back of the bridge, still sitting at the science station, but facing the forward viewer, a puzzled frown creasing his ageing brow. 'It's quite a trek back to Cardassian space.'

'Indeed,' Akerman said, equally puzzled. 'Though we can discuss that when the risks of us being blown out of the sky is a little less imminent.' The moment the words had left her mouth, she already regretted uttering them. The crew would be nervous enough without the first officer confirming their fears that they were dangerously close to being attacked.

Looking over her shoulder towards the science officer, she saw him give her an encouraging smile. Her first thought was that he was being far too familiar with her. She was his superior after all. But as she looked past her first gut reaction, she saw it for what it was – a man merely trying to inspire confidence in a younger officer who at that moment genuinely seemed to be floundering a little. Covering up the grim frown, she set her expression to one of determination, and stood up straight.

'Continue passive scans on the two ships,' she said turning back towards Trace. 'I want to know the minute anything changes. Comms,' she then said, turning towards the left side of the bridge and the young officer who was sat at that console. 'I want continuous sweeps of the surrounding sector for anything unusual. All band widths, all frequencies. If the sensors are blind I want to be able to hear anything else coming from two sectors away.'

'But, sir. With the asteroid behind us I don't think I can...' he began to protest, but Akerman cut him off sharp.

'Just do what you can, ensign,' she said firmly, trying to push a hint of compassion into her voice. Sometimes though, she wished she didn't have to. 'Helm,' she continued, stepping across the bridge to stand in front of the captains chair. 'I want you to keep the impulse drive at standby. The slightest twitch from either of those ships and I want us to be able to move within a heartbeat.'

'Yes, sir,' the Orion female said confidently, but her fingers shaking as she tapped the controls. Akerman decided to ignore this, turning at last to Matthew once more.

'Let me know the minute the probe has returned. Once it's here, its very likely that the Cardassians will know there is something not right. When that happens, it won't be long before they detect us.'

'Well then you'd better brace yourself,' Matthew said, not taking his eyes off the screen in front of him. 'The probe will be within visual range in sixty seconds.' A surge of irritation swept through Akerman's body. She thought they would have had longer. Reaching up, she tapped the comms badge on her chest and heard it click on.

'Captain to the bridge,' she said crisply. 'All hands. Yellow alert.'

Yellow lights flared into life all around the bridge, all the others overhead snapping to black. The dull glow of the status displays seemed to roar in the darkness, and tension flooded through the ship as the shift to yellow alert solidified their fear of attack. A sharp hiss from the side of the bridge echoed through the room as the captain returned from his office and strode quickly towards his chair, Akerman stepping aside to allow him to sit.

'Probe will be in visual range in thirty seconds, sir,' she stated crisply. He nodded distractedly as he lowered himself into his chair and tapped the monitor that was recessed into the arm. For long, painfully drawn out seconds, he sat and stared down at the screen, his chin resting in his hand, his brow creased in concentration.

Finally, his eyes darted towards the screen.

'What you seeing, Matthew?' he asked in a whisper, his eyes locked on the main viewer.

'Ten seconds till visual contact,' came the reply.

Akerman could feel her hand tensing up again by her side as she stepped slowly towards the helm console. Resting her hand on the back of the chair, she couldn't stop herself from leaning forwards.

'Wait,' Matthew said, his voice suddenly hushed. 'I'm getting something else.'

'Where?' Rex spat out.

'Another signal, right on the tail of the probe.'

'What is it?'

'Uncertain. Sensors cannot get a clear reading, but it has a high quantity of Tachyon particles.'

'Tachyons?' Akerman cried as she rounded on the captain and saw his eyes widen in fear and anger. They both knew what that meant.

'Shields up! Red alert!' he barked savagely.

She had barely any time to turn around to face the forward viewer before a green, shimmering pulse tore between the Cardassian cruisers and slammed into the bow of the ship.

...

The ship rocked as the two Cardassian cruisers rounded on their location, bringing their forward weapons to bear. Trace swept the area around them on one of the consoles, searching for the source of the first attack, even though he knew that he would find nothing. The sensors showed nothing except the two cruisers currently turning to face them.

'All ahead, full impulse,' the captain barked across the darkened bridge. Trace held onto the console in front of him as the ship bucked beneath his feet. Impact after impact rattled the ship and the view screen was almost useless as it filled with light from each hit, and dust from the asteroid above them. The sustained fire was quickly eating away at the shields, and their cover as they slipped out from beneath the asteroid into open space.

'Prepare to return fire,' Akerman yelled, spinning around to glare at Trace over her shoulder. 'Fire all phasers.'

'We are not up to full power. The phasers will barely scratch their shields,' Trace retorted, painfully aware that they were outnumbered and underpowered.

'Well then load torpedo bays one and two and target the nearest Cardassian cruiser,' Akerman spat back with a hiss. 'Just fire.'

'Aye, sir,' Trace growled back, tasting the sweet rush of adrenalin that accompanied battle.

'Bridge to Engineering,' Rex snapped, tapping the comlink on his chest. 'We could really use more power about now.'

'I would love to oblige, sir,' Prior's voice yelled back, trying desperately to be heard over the wailing sirens that were filling the engineering bay. 'The antimatter injectors have been reinstalled but that last impact knocked them out of alignment. If we try to power them up now, there's a risk we could blow the core.'

'Just give me what you can, Lieutenant,' Rex ordered through gritted teeth. Trace watched as another phaser blast slammed into the starboard hull, his fingers deftly sweeping over the controls as he tried to return fire.

'Aye, sir,' Prior yelled back. The comlink went silent.

'Captain,' another voice cried. Trace looked back over his shoulder and he could see Matthew sitting in front of the science station, his eyes wide as he glared at the screen. 'Contact bearing two seven two point seven. It's the probe.'

'I think we are a bit too preoccupied to be worrying about the probe, Lieutenant,' Akerman hissed, turning to look over her shoulder with her eyes like thunder.

'No,' Rex said quickly. 'He's right. If they pick up the probe, they'll know we sent it into the Neutral zone. We have to recover it.'

'But if we don't have warp power, how will we even get away?' Akerman spat back, confrontationally towards the captain.

'One problem at a time, commander! Mr G'rahm,' Rex continued. 'Target the nearest cruisers weapons array and fire.'

Trace tapped the controls and targeted their main weapons array of the nearest cruiser, beneath the raised upper decks.

'Helm, evasive pattern delta one. Get us as close as you can to that probe. Doc, get the tractor beam ready. You'll only get one shot at this.'

'Ready,' Matthews said firmly. Trace looked back over his shoulder as the ship rocked from another impact and met Matthews eyes. He was older, and for a moment, he saw a flicker of doubt flare across his eyes. Another siren tore through Trace's moment of distraction and he snapped his eyes back down to the screen in front of him.

'Captain, three more contacts entering sensor range, bearing one seven six point five,' he yelled. 'Keldon class cruisers on an intercept course.'

'Time to intercept?'

'Weapons range in one minute.'

'Doc. If you're gonna do something, you'd better do it fast,' Rex said hurriedly.

'Five more seconds, just a little closer,' Matthew growled.

The ship ducked and dived, darting beneath the outer asteroids as the young helm officer tried to keep them one step ahead of the pursuing cruisers. Showers of dust rained down off the asteroids as the Cardassians shots flew wide and slammed into the rocky surface, some skimming and scorching the hull of the ship. A blinking light appeared in the vast starscape that filled the forward viewer, and it resolved itself into an image of the probe as they raced towards it.

'Doc?' Rex barked.

'Activating tractor beam,' Matthew yelled. The lights dimmed as the tractor beam dragged power from the backup generators, and Trace looked down to see the screens in front of him flashing with warning signs.

'Shields at twenty three percent,' he warned, holding onto the console.

'Got it,' Matthew said triumphantly.

'Helm, evasive pattern Beta four,' Rex said sharply. 'Set a course into the asteroid field and get us the hell out of here.'

'But, captain,' Matthew yelled, suddenly fear in his voice. 'We detected large pockets of Metreon gas within the field. If we hit one of those pockets...'

'I'm aware of the risks, lieutenant,' Rex snapped back.

The whole bridge fell silent for a moment, even the shots from the attacking Cardassians seemed to diminish. Trace knew that by referring to Matthew by rank, and not his name as he usually did, even the captain could sense the danger they were in.

But he also knew there was no other choice.

'Helm,' he said defiantly. 'Do it.'

The ship veered hard to starboard, and slipped beneath the asteroids, plunging into the ever shifting mass of rock.


	5. Chapter 5

**Part 5**

_NCC-19846 USS Insurgence_

_Sector 045_

_On station – The Neutral Zone_

_'Captain's log. Star date 46676.9_

_Through the remarkable skills of my crew, Ensign Eraiel specifically at the helm, we have been able to recover the probe from right under the noses of the Cardassians. However, their pursuit has forced us deeper into the asteroid field, and dangerously close to the highly concentrated pockets of Metreon gas that has collected in this region._

_The warp core is still offline, and with the antimatter injectors now out of alignment, we have no idea if they can be reinitialized. We are rapidly running out of options..._

...

Akerman shielded her eyes as a shower of sparks rained down from the ceiling as another phaser round slammed into the upper hull, sending power surging through the relays above them. They ruptured and exploded, shards spitting in all directions and scorching hot splinters of metal falling down on top of the crew. Akerman leaned further over the helm officer, shielding the young Orion female as she struggled to navigate through the ever tightening asteroid field.

'Keep us ahead of those cruisers, ensign,' she whispered encouragingly, grabbing hold of the back of her chair as the ship bucked painfully beneath them.

'Shields at nineteen percent,' Trace yelled out across the bridge. Akerman spun her head around to look up at the tactical station and could see the thin trickle of blood seeping from a cut across his forehead. The bridge was rapidly filling with smoke.

'Bridge to engineering,' Rex barked, gripping the arms of his seat to steady himself as the ship continued to buck and shake. His hair was dishevelled and his eyes were almost ablaze with anger. 'We need more power.'

'We're giving you all we can, captain,' Prior's voice cut across the speakers. Akerman felt her heart tighten. She would never admit to it, but her feelings for Arthur were stronger than those she had felt for anyone in her entire life. 'We can't risk powering up the warp core with the injectors out of alignment. If they are even a fraction of an inch out, we could be blown out of the sky.'

'If we don't get the power back, that will almost definitely happen,' Rex bit back sharply.

She glared back at him, angry that he seemed to be blaming Arthur for their situation. She was on the brink of barking back at him when she saw something flicker across his face. It was fear, and beneath that was resignation.

'I'm ordering you to go down and realign the injectors manually,' he said calmly, self hatred creasing his brow. Akerman felt time stand still. It was tantamount to a death sentence. Sending someone down into the injector assembly to do a manual realignment...

'Sir, I have to object to this course of...' she began, but Rex cut her off with a sad frown.

'Your objections are noted, commander. Chief, you have your orders.' and without even waiting for a response, he closed the channel. Akerman found herself staring back at him for what felt like an eternity. Time stopped and all she could see in her mind was Arthur, her Arthur, climbing down into the hatch and through the radiation chamber to realign the injectors. She saw his smile, she felt his hand against her cheek, and his lips against hers. She looked into his eyes and wished that she could let the words that were stuck in her throat free. But she said nothing.

Another blast slammed into the port side and the ship rocked violently. The images snapped away from her eyes and she found herself looking back at the captain once more. She became resolute and turned towards the turbo lift.

'Where are you going, commander?' Rex called out to her. She stopped in her tracks, looking back at him.

'Request permission to go to engineering,' she said as calmly as she could manage.

'Denied,' Rex said coldly. 'I need you here.'

'Sir, I really think...'

'I know what you think,' Rex said finally, rounding on her and staring daggers at her. 'But what's done is done. There is no other way, commander. I'm sorry.'

Akerman had no time to retaliate.

'Incoming,' Trace yelled from behind the captain's chair. A second later, the ship was on it's side, and she found herself flying through the air, slamming hard into the deck, a cracking pain spreading through her ribs. She rolled across the floor, finally coming to rest on the opposite side of the bridge, her head pounding and her chest tight. Looking up through blurred vision, she saw a figure lying beside her, their yellow uniform stained in blood. A moment of terror flashed across her mind as she saw Arthur's face in front of her. Blinking away the tears that blurred her vision, the face vanished and was replaced by another.

It was the operations officer who sat in the chair beside the helm. A young boy, not long out of the academy. He stared back at her with unblinking eyes, fear the last thing to cross his face.

She scurried across to him and pressed her fingers against his throat. There was nothing.

'Commander?' Rex called out to her. She couldn't bring herself to look at him. Staring down at the young boy, she closed his eyes and shook her head.

'Dead, sir.'

'Take his place,' Rex said. Without question, she rose to her feet and dropped herself into his chair. Her mind was numb. All she could think was to do her job. Inside, her lungs were burning and her ribs were pounding with pain. Her heart was screaming at her to leave, to run to Arthur and be with him no matter the cost. To tell him what she had denied herself for so long. But she couldn't.

'Shields at fifteen percent,' Trace growled.

The lights flickered above them and a loud rumbling sound began to echo through the hull. Akerman tapped at the ops station in front of her and watched as the warp core began to power up. He had done it. She smiled as she turned towards the captain and was about to report his success when the comlink chirped again.

'Engineering to bridge,' the voice said. 'Warp power is back online.'

But something was wrong. It was not Arthur's voice she could hear. Why wasn't it Arthur's voice?

'Roger that,' Rex said, a flicker of sadness blurring his eyes. 'Divert all available power to the shields. Mr G'rahm, load torpedo tubes one and two and target the nearest cluster of Metreon gas. Helm, prepare for full impulse. We're going to ride the wave out of here.'

Akerman did not know what was happening around her. Her hands were sailing over the controls as if they had a mind of their own. Her mouth was responding to her orders, saying things that she did not even remember thinking.

Where was Arthur?

'Ready... Fire.'

The ship shot forwards as they leapt to full impulse. Warning sirens blared all over the bridge as the shockwave from the detonating Metreon gas chased them through the asteroid field. The sensor screen in front of her showed the explosions of the chasing Cardassian ships. And up ahead she could see open space between the ever shifting asteroids.

They were almost free. They were almost out.

But Arthur...

The ship pitched forwards hard, the lights flashing brightly before going out. Screams filled her ears as she tumbled from her chair.

Everything went dark.

Everything went quiet.

As the darkness took her, a single word escaped her lips.

'Arthur...'

...

_NCC-19846 USS Insurgence_

_Sector 042_

_Star Base Twenty Five_

Rex stood beside his first officer as they waited by the port-side airlock in silence. For fifteen hours they had limped across space, the warp core giving them enough power to maintain momentum, but the starboard nasell damaged too much to jump to warp. When they had finally reached hailing range of the space station, the ship was barely holding itself together.

Akerman had not left the bridge in all that time. Her eyes had been hollow as she had walked aimlessly around the deck looking at each of the consoles, and seemingly ignoring the officers around her. Rex had tried to relieve her, but she had simply ignored him and continued to walk around the bridge, her face set into a calm stare, but her eyes seeing something he could not.

He realised he had been watching her for a long few minutes, because a sudden gasp brought him back to the world around him. Turning to see what had shocked her, he watched as two medic appeared around the corner, carrying a gurney between them, walking along the corridor towards them. They drew closer, and Akerman's breath faltered, inhaling sharply and holding onto it as though it was her only lifeline. They walked passed and began through the airlock that led onto the station, the shrouded figure lying upon it horribly still. They were dressed in radiation hazard suits, the meshed face mask hiding their identities. They had almost walked passed when a hand slipped from beneath the sheets and hung down beneath it. The fingers were horribly blistered and dark, and the yellow sleeve was charred with burns.

Akerman's hand clenched.

'Wait,' she called out to them.

Before Rex could stop her she had rushed over towards them and was now standing beside the gurney. Slipping the hand back into place, she let her eyes drift up to the head of the stretcher. Gingerly, she reached up and pulled the sheet down. Rex stepped beside her in time to see her reveal the face of his chief engineer, Lieutenant Arthur Prior. His eyes were closed, and he could almost have been sleeping, but the pallor of his skin told the truth. Blisters clung to the sides of his lips and cheeks, and his skin was a painful shade of grey.

Rex had known for a while about their relationship, or at least he had suspected. He wished that it had not taken his death for his suspicions to be confirmed.

He watched as she reached out to his cheek, gently brushing her quivering hand across his cold skin. Her breath was coming in short gasps, as she was struggling to contain the tears that Rex could see stinging her eyes. Leaning down, she stroked a strand of hair from his face, pushing it gently back into place.

'I love you Arthur,' she whispered, before placing her lips softly against his temple. With shaking hands, she raised the sheet once more and replaced it. The medics took it as a sign to move along, and as they walked through the airlock, Rex stepped beside Akerman, watching her shoulders begin to shake as she no longer held back the tears.

'Akerman...' he began, reaching out to place his hand on her shoulder. She shrugged it off violently. 'Jean,' he said. 'I'm so sorry.' With a speed he had not anticipated, she rounded on him and glared at him through tear stained eyes. They flashed with murderous anger, and unquenchable loss. Her whole body tensed and she seemed on the verge of attacking him.

'With all due respect, sir,' she spat, making the last word sound like it tasted of bile and she wanted rid of it. 'I don't care what you think you should say. You sent him to his death. You killed him.'

'I did what I had to to save the ship, and so did he,' Rex replied as calmly as he could.

'You took him from me as sure as if you held the door open yourself,' she yelled.

'At ease, commander,' Rex barked finally. Her eyes widened and she stepped back, disbelief spreading across her face. She did not hide the anger from her voice. Glaring back at him, she straightened her back, and pulled the hem of her uniform down.

'Request to be dismissed, sir,' she said, her voice shaking.

'Jean...'

'Request to be dismissed,' she repeated, hissing. Rex knew there was no point trying to talk to her. His shoulders sagged and he sighed.

'Dismissed,' he whispered. The words had barely left his lips before she turned away from him and stormed off down the corridor, vanishing around the corner.

Rex wondered aimlessly through the ship, his thoughts on the events that had happened. Could he have done anything differently? Should he have disobeyed orders from star fleet? And if he had, would Prior still be alive?

An hour of wondering that passed within a heartbeat, and found himself stepping into his own ready room. The sounds of the ship faded away as the doors closed behind him, and beyond the view port that was built into the wall behind his desk he could see the small repair craft beginning to buzz around the outside of his ship, fixing the worst affected parts of the ship, making sure it wouldn't damage itself further.

He walked around the desk and dropped himself into the chair, staring thoughtlessly through the view port at the twinkling stars beyond. But then a thought occurred to him.

'Computer,' he said slowly. 'Load up the recordings from the forward view screen during the battle with the Cardassians.'

Turning to face the small monitor that was sitting on his desk, he watched the screen flare into life and the images he had seen out the forward viewer began to play out once more. The two Cardassian ships slipped into view and dropped into formation in front of them, oblivious to their position. A twinkling light began to move closer as the probe returned. And then the green pulse burst from nowhere and slammed into the screen, making it flare blindingly.

'Pause,' he said quickly. 'Backtrack to time index nine seven three.'

The image rolled back to the point just before the green pulse appeared. Rex leaned in closer and narrowed his eyes as he focused.

'Advance frame by frame,' he commanded.

The image shifted fractionally, then again, the beginnings of the green glow appearing. It grew brighter and brighter, highlighting something around it. One frame remained before it burst from the source and Rex yelled for the computer to stop.

His blood ran cold.

On the screen in front of him, lit only by the green glow of the particle weapon, was the hull of an invisible ship, its tall, narrow nose stretching down in a razor sharp beak shape. It was a type of ship Rex knew all too well.

Romulans.


End file.
